The invention relates generally to cartridges for ink jet printers, and in particular to an ink cartridge that alternatively can be a cleaner cartridge.
The cross-referenced applications filed Aug. 16, 2001, particularly Ser. No. 09/931,523 entitled INK CARTRIDGE WITH COLOR DISCRIMINATION STRUCTURE, disclose an ink cartridge that has a means for visibly identifying the ink supply in the cartridge such as by color or type.
The disclosed ink cartridge includes an ink bag containing an ink supply, an ink egress snout attached to the ink bag and from which the ink supply is discharged from the ink bag, and a split collar that receives or mates with the snout via an annular rib on the collar and an annular groove on the snout. The collar when mated with the snout can be rotated about the snout to any one of a number of allowable orientations. The particular orientation of the collar that is selected serves to identify the ink supply in the ink bag.
A pair of housing halves for the ink bag when connected together form a bottom opening for the collar. The bottom opening is bounded by multisided edges of the housing halves. The collar has a peripheral recess with a multisided floor that complements the multi-sided edges. This permits the collar when arranged in any one of the orientations to be trapped in the bottom opening to prevent rotation of the collar relative to the snout. Moreover, it serves to secure the bag to the housing halves.
According to one aspect of the invention, an alternative ink/cleaner cartridge comprising an egress snout from which an ink supply or a cleaner supply is discharged from the cartridge, is characterized in that:
the snout and a collar that mates with the snout are mutually configured to permit the collar to mate with the snout only when the collar is in any one of a number of allowable orientations, to provide an identification of an ink supply to be discharged from the cartridge; and
the snout mates with a cap in place of the collar to prevent a cleaner supply from being discharged from the cartridge.
According to another aspect of the invention, an alternative method of partially assembling a cartridge including an egress snout from which an ink supply or a cleaner supply is discharged from the cartridge, said method comprising:
mating the snout with a collar that is mutually configured with the snout to permit the snout to mate with the collar only when the collar is in any one of a number of allowable orientations, to provide an identification of an ink supply to be discharged from the cartridge; or
mating the snout with a cap in place of the collar to prevent a cleaner supply from being discharged from the cartridge.